Protesters continue disruptions at Washington Legislature

Washington State Troopers remove members of the “Occupy” movement who disrupted a senate budget hearing in Olympia.

Northwest News Network

OLYMPIA, Wash. – State troopers arrested ten people at the Washington state capitol Tuesday. Four of them after protesters disrupted a Washington legislative committee.

Crowd: “Mic check. Mic check. Mic check. Mic check. Mic check.”

About 50 members of the “Occupy” movement staged what they call a “general assembly” in the hearing room. They denounced proposed budget cuts and called for tax hikes on companies like Microsoft, Boeing and Amazon.

Committee chair Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat, allowed the disruption for about fifteen minutes. Then he ordered the State Patrol to remove people who wouldn’t quiet down.

Police action

Hilary Bowker says she’s with "Occupy Seattle."

“We want the legislators to know that we’re going to start holding them accountable and we’re going to be disruptive if they refuse to listen to us and if they pander to corporations instead of their constituents,” Bowker said.

A short while later in the statehouse rotunda, troopers forcibly removed a woman who reportedly violated a trespass warning notice. As she was carried out, protesters surrounded the troopers booing and shouting.